History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c26.296

v2.c26.296

Questions about the validity of sagotra or sapravara marriages have not yet come before the courts; but it is likely that in the near future courts will have to deal with such cases. If a marriage takes place under the Special Marriage Act of 1872 (as amended in 1923) no difficulty will arise; but recently several marriages have been celebrated under the old *Śāstric* procedure between persons who are sagotra or sapravara. Upon the strict letter of the dharmaśāstra texts such marriages are absolutely void. But it seems that the legislature should intervene and declare sagotra and sapravara marriages valid. Whatever may have been the case thousands of years ago when there were no means of communication and when there were small communities, the prohibition of sagotra relationship had some plausibility and real feeling of close kinship about it; but now the prohibition has become meaningless. A man from Kashmir may marry a girl from Madras and the parents of both may have the same gotra. Granting for argument that the gotra sage was a common ancestor, one does not know how many generations have intervened between that remote ancestor and the intending spouses and particles of the ancestor's body, if they have survived at all in the intending spouses of the same gotra, must be in the present generation in the most attenuated state. The prohibitions based upon gotra and pravara are said by orthodox people to be prescribed upon unseen (adṛṣṭa) grounds and so they argue that they must be held to be absolute and not admitting of any evasion by any one calling himself a Vedic Hindu. One may be permitted to reply to these people that when almost every-body has given up the ancient cult of the śrauta and gṛhya fires and when hundreds of other innovations in ancient practices have been accepted without demur, there is hardly any justification for sticking to this one remnant of ancient practices. As a matter of fact many brāhmaṇas now do not remember their pravara themselves but have to be told by the priests what their pravara is. Certain prohibitions against marriage between near sapiṇḍa relations may be respected on account of their universal acceptance. Even the Special Marriage Act of 1872 prescribes that there can be no marriage between parties when they trace descent to a common ancestor who is the great-grandfather or great-grandmother (or who is nearer even than these) of any one of them.